Jock Landale Was Furious With Utah Jazz After Being Abruptly Traded

During this year's trade deadline, the Utah Jazz made their big blockbuster swing with the Memphis Grizzlies by acquiring Jaren Jackson Jr., along with three other players in what was their biggest deal made since their Donovan Mitchell trade in 2022.

And in the process of that move, the Jazz brought in a group of other players with Jackson to allow their salaries and roster limits to meet league requirements. One of those players was veteran big man Jock Landale.

But Landale didn't spend much time with the Jazz. It would only take a few moments before he would be re-routed in another deal to the Atlanta Hawks, where he would ultimately finish out the 2025-26 campaign.

And in the process of his move from Utah and Atlanta, the Jazz wound up "lighting a fire" under Landale for the way in which it went down.

How Jock Landale Got Furious With the Jazz After His Deadline Deal

Landale spoke about his experience getting dealt from the Jazz to the Hawks on the Dyl And Friends Podcast. The big man was actually traded from Utah to Atlanta the day before the two teams were scheduled to play each other.

Instead of flying out from Memphis to Atlanta, he would drive around six hours to get to Atlanta, where in his locker ahead of the game, he found that the Jazz had put his jersey and a bit of a joking message along with it.

That didn't seem to go over well with Landale.

"So when I get to the game, right, this was a huge fire under my ass that was lit," Landale said. "The Utah guys had thought it was funny, and they dropped off my Utah jersey in my locker, with a photo of me that they put on their Instagram saying, 'Welcome to Utah, Jock Landale."

"And I was like, 'Oh, you guys think this is funny? Like, you think it's funny that I've just been like tossed around, and I'm not going to see my family for three months, and like all this stuff."

"At that point, I was pissed. I'd gone from like 'It is what it is' to, now I'm actually a little bit like pissed off with you. And then I go out there and I play purely on instinct, which as an athlete, is like the best place you can be. And I played pretty good and we win. So it was a good night."

The Memphis Grizzlies made a massive mistake trading Jock Landale pic.twitter.com/uhW7zmCLzh
— Growl Towel Central (@GTC901) May 27, 2026

And it was in that game against the Jazz that Landale had a night to remember.

In a narrow 121-119 win for Atlanta, Landale was the leading scorer with 26 points on 10-14 shooting, pairing with 11 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks, in a clear statement performance in his first-ever game wearing a Hawks uniform.

Feb 5, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Jock Landale (31) reacts after a basket against the Utah Jazz in the fourth quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

It was certainly a loud message sent to the Jazz: making Utah maybe think twice about their deal to ship off the veteran big man, and might have made a bit of an enemy out of Landale, who they'll have to keep watch of any time they face him moving forward in his career.

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